Friday, September 20, 2013

LIVE FROM NASHVILLE II

Day 1 of House of Bishops began exceedingly well with
presentations by Bishop Katharine and the President of the House of Deputies,
the Rev. Gay Jennings. It was so good to see the leaders of the two houses
relating well and working cooperatively. It gave me hope that some of the
divisions that have previously hindered us in the mission are behind us and we
can get on with the work.

After that, the 1st day was frustrating for me
on a couple of counts. First, a lot of time went into yet another presentation
on emergent ministries. While I support the idea, believe in the theology, and
approve of the particular program, we had heard all this before. It also
included disparagement of the institutional church, which certainly needs some
work, but is not remotely as bad as our presenter was saying. The second
frustration was entirely my fault. I lost my file that contained my notes for a
presentation I am to give as part of an upcoming panel on loss and
transformation. I was unable to find my flash drive so I could get my notes off
my computer and onto paper. Finally, I found my flash drive and got the notes
reprinted. I start today with a much better attitude.

I began Day 2 with a better attitude. Day 2 kicked off
with presentations by Christian and Jewish leaders on the Middle East. The big
names are Bishop Suheil Duwani of the Diocese of Jerusalem and David Proctor,
the Canon For Reconciliation for the Anglican Communion. Rabbi Steve Gutow truly
spoke to my heart as he laid out principles for relationship building that can
help us work together to address seemingly intractable matters:

Get to know
each other personally. (Make a friend)

Speak with
integrity and consistency.

Act together
in joint action on concerns where we agree. (Interfaith social

justice movements)

Be sensitive
to the fears and pressures that weigh on the other.

Be present
when the other requests or is in need.

Say together
what you can say together even when there are differences

It gives me hope to see that there are such good people working
for the Kingdom Mission. It also shows that our community organizing work in
Nevada is building the skills and connections that are the road to peace not
just locally but internationally.

Canon David Proctor works out of Coventry Cathedral on
Archbishop Welby’s central project of reconciliation. He is a veteran of the
peace process in Ireland from back in the bad old days. They start with
reconciliation within the Church of England as they find way to make room for
their deep differences over issues of sexuality and the new authorization for
women bishops. (The first woman Bishop in the UK was appointed today in
Ireland.) I am struck by how Archbishop Welby is practicing the principles that
Rabbi Gutow recommends including one on one meetings with each of the primates
around the Communion. The reconciliation project however goes from local to
global. It looks for ways that Anglicans can contribute to reconciliation in
the world.

Canon Proctor
speaks of “conflict resilience.” It takes strong pastoral presence but the
clergy often do not receive necessary support to preserve their own balance in
the midst of widespread trauma. It is hard for churches to resist colluding in
conflict such as the stress of the long hard conflict in Northern Ireland or
the brutal violence in the Congo. This is very serious stuff indeed. It makes
me look at the things we Episcopalians take so seriously – and I know they are
serious to us – but the hardships others face put our conflicts in a different
perspective.

The Archbishop’s focus, after the Church of England, is on
conflict in:

In the Middle East: How do we make sure religious ideas do
not block a healthy political process? I would add: how might our religious
ideas support a healthy political process? If our religious ideas perpetuate
violence instead of fostering peace and reconciliation, do our religious ideas
need rethinking?

Reconciliation, Proctor says, is not a soft and cuddly
word. “Peace is offensive. Justice is a tease.” How do we make peace when
retributive justice is denied? Peace with justice is good in theory. But the
justice is illusive. Our offense at peace is ameliorated by the truth that we
are all sinners. Acknowledging that we have been complicit in the conflicts and
violence is at the heart of what makes us uncomfortable with making peace.
“Reconciliation is a bastard. It says see those people who have bombed your
people for 40 years. They are now your friends.”

I have been slow to form an opinion on the new Archbishop
of Canterbury, Justin Welby. But if David Proctor represents his priorities, I
am an enthusiastic supporter!!!

Over lunch, Province 8 bishops met. Navajoland is making
great progress with developing lay and ordained ministries to revitalize that
seriously challenged part of our Church. There is great hope, but money is a
problem. Recently a building needed all its leaky gas pipes replaced at a cost
of $40,000. So Province 8 (the money comes from the diocese, whose money comes
from the parishes, whose money comes from the members) presented a $40,000 check
to Bishop David Bailey of Navajoland. Our tears. God’s money from your pockets.
There was also talk of positive developments in San Joaquin. More on that
later.

Returning to plenary session: We had table discussion and
with report-outs on the process of reimagining the Episcopal Church of the
future. We then heard about the process of gathering more input from the grass
roots on restructuring of the church.

We then had a report from the Ecclesiology Committee and reviewed
a paper on Episcopal Ecclesiology (doctrine of the nature of the Church).
Probably not a hot issue in Twitter-world. But I actually thought there are
some important questions here – just not the one the paper is about. It is
pretty focused on governance. What I want to ask is what we think God calls the
Church to be and do. On the one hand, what do we say when the young adult says “I
know Jesus. Why do I need the Church?” On the other hand, when a deacon asks a
congregation to do research to discover the needs of the surrounding community because
a Church is not a club, what do we say when congregants say, “But a club is
exactly what I want,” what then do we say. What does it mean to be the Body of
Christ or is that a model of the Church that we still embrace? If we understand
ourselves as the Body of Christ, what are we called to be and do? The answers
to those questions ought to be Twitter material.